Chance encounters with a brilliant mind. Strangers swap stories of running into Steve Jobs in the Whole Foods checkout
line, having awkward elevator chatter and locking eyes at the gym

The genius behind Apple was really just a regular guy who shopped for groceries, stumbled through small talk and tried to help a stranded motorist whose car broke down.

More than a month after Apple enthusiasts marked the first year anniversary of the death of Steve Jobs, tales of his quotidian activities from people who encountered the legend around his Palo Alto community have being pouring in online.

Everyone from former colleagues, to fellow gym goers to interns who interacted with the iconic entrepreneur have weighed in on the mysterious man who built the Apple empire.

Everyday man: Apple CEO Steve Jobs (pictured at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California on Oct. 14, 2008) is being remembered as a regular guy who went to the gym and shopped at Whole Foods

The story swapping about the late Silicon Valley genius all began onQuora, a Question-and-Answer social networking website that resembles a higher class version of reddit.

One user posed a question to the group, 'What are the best stories about people randomly meeting Steve Jobs? I'm particularly curious to know what he was like outside of Apple Inc.'

'He had a reputation for being 'difficult' to work with, or work for. I want to know about what he was like as 'the guy buying coffee...', or 'the customer who stepped into an Apple Store,' the question added.

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The inquiry opened the floodgate with users eager to spill on their chance meetings with Jobs, who died at age 56 on October 5, 2011.

Jobs had lived in Palo Alto with his wife Laurene Powell and their three children, Eve,Erinand Reed. He had fathered a daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, from a previous relationship though he initially denied paternity of his eldest.

Though Jobs had an estimated net
worth of $8.1 billion - he preferred to chose his own groceries and was a
frequent shopper at his local Whole Foods, according to the number of spottings at the upscale organic food purveyor.

Husband and wife: Steve Jobs leans his forehead against his wife after delivering the keynote address at an Apple conference in San Francisco, California, in June 2011, months before his death

'I met Steve at Whole Foods and got 5 minutes of chat out of him,' Ryan McGeehan, the Director of Security at Facebook wrote on the online message board.

'I was checking out and was tapped on the shoulder. I was asked where I got the lemonade I was checking out with. I pointed to the back of the store and told him where I found it. As he turned around I said something bro'ish like 'this stuff rules and you should go get some' and he laughed a bit.'

McGeehan continued that he started to tell the man 'You kind of look like Steve Jo...' and then he suddenly realized the person inquiring about his lemonade was Jobs himself.

The self-described Apple sycophant tried to talk shop with the Apple founder, which lasted for about five minutes.

'He didn't seem annoyed or anything. We talked about where we both lived, working in Palo Alto, and other trivial commonalities,' he added.

Another user, Roy Pereira, chimed in about his own Jobs' sighting at the grocery store, when the Apple CEO got into it with a cashier when the tech mogul claimed he was given incorrect change.

'He was demanding that he got another quarter ($0.25) for his change. This discussion went on for several minutes and held up the line so much that everyone behind him (including us) were getting annoyed,' Pereira said.

'I guess Steve had to be right. The cashier gave him a quarter and he walked away.'

Couple: Jobs and his wife Laurene Powell (pictured at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in March 7, 2010) met in 1989. They have three children together - Eve, Erin and Reed

Another user remembered Jobs as his gym buddy at the the Equinox in Palo Alto.

Jobs would come in to work out at 5:20 a.m., according to Philip Cortes, and in true form - Jobs would routinely wear the same outfit of 'black pants and a black shirt, and seemed to do exactly the same workout everyday: 30 min brisk walk, at a good incline.'

Though Cortes said he never actually spoke to the corporate demigod, the fitness enthusiast is convinced he and Jobs had an unspoken-but-deep connection.

'We'd end up looking right at each other if I looked left. We locked eyes for quite a while, and occasionally did the 'hello' nod every once in a while. As cheesy as it may be, I found it incredibly motivating to 'work out with Steve Jobs' every morning,' he wrote.

The man and his machines: Apple founder Steve Jobs introduced his Apple II computer (pictured left) in 1977. Jobs (right) shows off the new Macintosh personal computer in 1984

Though Jobs was focused at the gym, he was still willing to engage with those around him at work and even with his subordinates.

Another heart-warming story about the tech whiz came from a user, Michael Chang, about his time as an intern at Apple in 2010.

Chang and Jobs shared an elevator together and the CEO noticed Chang's ID badge marked him as a summer intern, so Jobs inquired as to what the young man was working on.

But Chang, being conscientious of Apple's nondisclosure rules that had been drilled into the summer temps during orientation, told the CEO, 'Sorry, but I'm not supposed to tell you.'

'[He] flashed a smile, chuckled a little, and stepped out of the elevator,' Chang remembered.

But another employee remembered a workplace interaction that was less jovial.

Jobs had visited Apple's corporate cafeteria and ordered his salad of choice, made with butter lettuce.

'Apparently the salad bar 'bin' for that variety was low and had not yet been re-stocked by the attendant. He proceeded to exchange a few terse words with him and then made another choice,' Doug Muise posted on Quora, relating a story that had been told him by a friend.

'The next day (and successive days henceforth) the butter lettuce bin at the salad bar was filled to overflowing. Like a ridiculous amount of butter lettuce!'' he wrote.

Residence: Jobs had lived in Palo Alto, California at this sprawling home, estimated to be worth $2.6 million

Though Jobs was thought to be a bit of a recluse that kept himself to himself, one man who had experienced car trouble in front of Jobs' sprawling Palo Alto mansion, shared how neighborly the man and his wife had been to the stranded motorist.

The posting came from Tim Smith, who said he used to date a woman whose parents lived near Jobs' home, a 5,700 sq ft, 1930s Tudor-style mansion with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms - estimated to be worth $2.6 million.

Smith was driving away from his girlfriend's home when the electrical system on his car 'blinked out and I coasted gracefully to a stop, directly in front of the Jobs’ driveway.'

In a bizarre and comical series of events, Jobs' wife Laurene came out of their home to see if she could help the man, offering him a beer and even calling a close friend to see if he could help fix the car.

He described how Jobs eventually emerged from his house to take a look at the commotion.

'I both dreaded and anticipated it. He ambled over. I think he had a beer too. And asked what was going on. He was joined by one of the kids,' Smith remembered.

'I saw him in his most personal element - family and friends - around a broken down car in Palo Alto one night, just by chance. I was lucky - and I was delighted,' he added.

Namaste: The 56-year-old co-founder and former CEO of Apple is widely seen as one of the world's greatest entrepreneurs